Everglow
by StarCannon
Summary: Clark reenters Lana's life just when her world seems to be falling apart. Standalone fluffiness.


**Everglow**

I've had this super fluffy standalone stuck in my head every night for the past two weeks and I finally got it typed out. Hope you enjoy :)

**Setting:** during late season 4

**Summary:** Clark reenters Lana's life just when her world seems to be falling apart.

**Author's Note:** This was kinda based off of a song called 'Angel' by Sarah McLachlan. Downloading it is recommended ;)

I might make a sequel to this, but I'm not completely sure…we'll see what happens.

* * *

Clark tugged on the Talon's door handles to make sure he'd lock the doors properly. He was just about to turn around and head for the truck, when he collided into his mother. 

"Whoa! Sorry, Mom, didn't see you there," Clark admitted with an apologetic smile. "I thought you'd already be in the car getting it warmed up."

"I just remembered…I don't think I locked the register," Martha said worriedly.

It was a tone Clark knew far too well from his mother. If he didn't check to make sure the register was indeed locked, she wouldn't sleep a wink until she had some confirmation to let her off the self-created, worrisome hook.

Clark sighed and began unlocking the doors again. "I'll go check. Be right back."

Martha smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Sweetheart."

Once in, he super sped to the counter, checked on the register and sure enough it was locked tight. He shook his head at his mother's forgetfulness and began to head back outside when he heard a noise from the apartment upstairs.

Lana's apartment.

It sort of sounded like…a puppy? That couldn't be right. He slowly turned up his super hearing to clarify the noise…

…and his heart stopped.

It was crying. Lana was crying. Not just crying. The bad kind of crying. The same type he remembered witnessing after Whitney's death.

For a moment, he wondered if he should just leave. Maybe it wasn't that big of a deal. She had shown no signs of being depressed or upset about anything the last time he saw her.

Wait…when _was_ the last time he saw her? Their lives were splitting apart so fully now…and she was so busy with Jason…he really had no knowledge of his last meeting with her…

His Kent-kindness eventually won over and after telling his mother he'd be just a few more minutes, he quietly strode up to her door. He hesitated before knocking quietly on the aged wood.

Immediately the whimpering stopped like the off switch on a television. He wondered if that's what he was hearing. Then he'd feel pretty stupid.

"Who is it?" her familiar voice asked on the other side of the door.

"Don't worry. It's just Clark," he answered reassuringly. After all, it was almost eleven at night and she did have a slight twinge of fear lacing her voice.

He heard the rattling of the door being unlocked and then watched it open to reveal Lana. It was then he knew it was most definitely not the television he'd been hearing. Her reddened eyes and all around droopy sort of look unfortunately confirmed that she in fact had been the weeping one.

He offered a tiny smile, which she didn't catch due to the fact that she wasn't giving him any eye contact at all.

"What did you want?" she wondered, her eyes flickering at his face's general area but mostly focusing on the ground.

"Um…I was just…checking the register for my mom and…and I heard…I heard you crying..."

Immediately her eyes stopped on his face. Clark's almost began to tear up himself. Her normally happy, dancing hazel eyes were full of sorrow and pain. What was going on? Did she even want him to know?

He now felt intrusive. She'd obviously didn't want him to see her like this. He never had before. "I know…um…sometimes girls cry just because they want to so…so I guess it was kind of strange for me to come up here…I didn't mean to disturb you…" He noticed her lip twitching a little and knew something was definitely not right. "…but um…if there's anything I can do to – "

Lana just then fell into his embrace, letting more tears fall this time silently from her face. The only noise was the gasps she made for more air to her tired, worn out lungs. His face screwed up into a sympathetic look. She was definitely shaking just as bad if not worse than she had in the caves when Whitney had been confirmed dead.

"Please just hold me…" she whispered only loud enough for him to hear.

Clark closed his eyes and held her comfortingly. "Of course."

They stood in the doorway for only a few minutes, but to Clark and Lana it felt like hours. She finally moved her head and noticed her hot tears had soaked through his shirt.

"I'm s-sorry, Clark," she stuttered through her coughing and weeping.

"Shhh…don't worry about it." He halfway waddled into her apartment, with Lana still clinging to his chest, and closed and locked the door behind him.

He plopped down on the couch and Lana finally gained enough courage to pry herself from Clark's wonderful hug. He softly rubbed her back, coaxing her to talk about what happened.

"I haven't broken down like this in a while. I think it was because of Jason. He was always there for me when I felt bad…" She sniffed quietly, looking down at her hands.

Clark bit his tongue. Jason was the very last subject he wanted to discuss with her - or with anyone for that matter. Still, he tried to remain an understanding friend.

"So, where's he now?"

"I haven't told anyone this yet, but…Jason broke up with me about a week ago," Lana admitted, training her eyes on the small fire that flickered before them. Besides the moon's glow shining through the curtain-covered windows, it was the only light in the darkened apartment. She blinked as two more tears slipped out from her eyelids. "He had another girlfriend…who he had been cheating on me with for a few months."

"Wow…that's horrible, Lana. I'm sorry," Clark confessed, frowning at the tears that fell from her eyes like tiny golden flames in the firelight.

Lana looked over at him sadly. "I didn't even know. Most girlfriends would know if their boyfriend was cheating on them, or at least have some idea that something was wrong, but I had no clue. It was just right out of the blue – 'Hey Baby, I have another girlfriend who's prettier than you so I'd rather be with her. Bye!'"

"Lana, that's not true," Clark corrected as Lana gazed at him in confusion. "No one could be prettier than you."

Lana smirked modestly and then shrugged. "And I guess because I don't have that shoulder to cry on anymore…all the other problems – no job, no plans for college… - they all became more prominent and I just had to…let it all out..."

Clark stared at her longingly as if reading her mind. "You're stronger than you think, Lana. The weak are the ones that try to keep it all in and hide from their problems."

"It just feels like I was living in a fantasy world the whole time I was with him. And all the sudden my fantasy pops…and I'm just dropped back into reality again…"

"Aw, reality's not that bad. At least if a guy cheats on you here, you'll find out before it's too late and kick their ass."

Lana giggled and leaned her exhausted head on his shoulder. "You know…I was thinking about calling you earlier."

"Me?" Clark asked in surprise. It was no secret she hardly wanted him in her life nowadays. Why would she have so suddenly wanted to call him?

"Yeah…well, at first I thought of Chloe, but I don't know...I started thinking of who else I could just sit and talk to…and not feel embarrassed or ashamed with…someone who really excepted me for me…you were the one that came to mind."

Clark felt his heart skip a few beats. "Well, I'll take that as a compliment."

"Good…you should…" Lana yawned and turned her head to get a little more comfortable. Within a few minutes, she was asleep in his arms.

He took in the warmth of the fire in silence until he was sure she was in a deep snooze, then carefully pulled out his cell phone and called his mother.

"Hey, Ma? Um yeah, Lana just dropped something…and the pieces are everywhere." Okay, not a total lie. "…Yeah, I was just gonna help her clean it up, but it's taking longer than I thought…no, you can just go ahead on home. I'll get back my own way…I will…all right…love you too, mom. Bye."

He snapped the phone shut and slipped it noiselessly back into his pocket. Lana's breath was still constant and smooth on his chest.

He didn't want to move, but he found no alternative and reluctantly began nudging Lana awake.

"Lana…hey…Lana…"

"Hmm…" She nuzzled her face more fully into his cotton shirt and wrapped her arm around his stomach.

"Come on, Lana…don't make this harder than it already is," he whined, though he was sure Lana was too tired to hear it.

He finally stood, slipping his arms under her and carrying her toward the bed. He laid her on the mattress and covered her small form with the covers. For a moment, he thought of kissing her – just a tiny one – but then thought better of it. He shouldn't take advantage of her current condition.

But the more he looked at her face – with dry tears trailing her cheeks and red rings around her eyes – the more his heart broke for her. How pigheaded could Jason have been? To give up such an amazing girl who was willing to receive so much love?

Almost without his knowledge, Clark's body slipped off his shoes and guided him to the other side of the bed. A small voice in the back of his thoughts tried to remind him that his parents would be furious if he didn't come home soon...that Lana may be angry that he decided to just come into her apartment and sleep next to her for no real reason…

But all the small voices stopped as soon as his head hit the pillow beside her.

Something clicked into place within his heart. Like a candle flickering to life. Whether it was a new feeling or something old he couldn't exactly tell. It felt wonderful though. He wasn't one to believe in fate, but at that moment he couldn't help but conclude that he was suppose to be here at this moment with Lana Lang.

She began to stir as he tried to get himself comfortable and lifted her head to glance at him.

He stared back at her, unable to tell if she was pleased with what he'd done or not.

Suddenly she dropped her head back onto the pillow and scooted herself backwards to him so he was comfortably spooning her. She grabbed his hand and held it onto the side of her waist. A grin remained on her face as she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck. Nothing felt more real or more perfect.

Clark blinked a few times, as if making sure this was actually happening. After a while he decided thinking about it hurt his head too much. He conclusively turned off his mind for the night and let his emotions run wordless and free. He closed his eyes and took in Lana's amazing scent.

"Clark?"

"Mm?"

She opened her eyes and ran her fingers over his larger ones soothingly.

"…I love you."

Clark smiled. "I love you too."

She turned her head around to face him again, somewhat shocked. "You do?"

Opening his eyes, he gazed into hers. They were slowly gaining back the dancing twinkle she had once possessed long ago. He nodded against the pillow to her question and gave her another small, dazed grin.

Lana's heart jumped within her. After the few horrible months she'd spent trying to stupidly erase this wonderful man out of her life, he still came back to her when she needed him. And, more importantly, he still loved her when she needed that too.

He lifted his head off the pillow and pecked her affectionately on the nose. "Now go to sleep."

She smiled immensely and turned back around, cuddling herself even closer to him. He willingly wrapped his arm more tightly around her until his large hand rested on her lower stomach protectively.

She grinned as she looked down at where his hand lay. His fingers moved ever so gently, rubbing her skin with care.

It was then that something dropped within her. It felt like a wall had fallen - a barrier she never intended to destroy. She wondered why she didn't feel vulnerable or scared that something that had been inside her since childhood had suddenly crumbled. Nevertheless, she found herself smiling even more at the thought of that wall falling because of Clark Kent.

"Oh God…" she whispered ever so quietly into the night, "I hope he marries me..."

Clark grinned to himself, never feeling happier or more at peace. He sighed, letting his emotions carry him away and joined the love of his life in a pure, flawless slumber.


End file.
